Tag Archives: Asia

The consumer 1980s you remember grew up and became Bangkok

Bangkok’s devotion to shopping means the city experiences three rush-hours a day. The third occurs when the shops close. What would a world look like in which 80s-style malls and bricks-and-mortar consumerism survived to the modern day? In Bangkok today, Amazon is a coffee shop, online shopping is frowned upon, and the mega-mall dominates minds,Continue reading “The consumer 1980s you remember grew up and became Bangkok”

Big Yellow Taxis Need to Park Somewhere

Are there uncontacted tribes in the concrete jungle? Or are we travellers just the mutant spawn of excessively photoshopped travel journalism and the white room horrors of package-holiday mind control?   Step out and you’ll soon discover paradise is not a place, it’s a delusion occupied by seekers boarding the flight from reality. Out there,Continue reading “Big Yellow Taxis Need to Park Somewhere”

Exploring the Peerless Piers of Thailand’s Koh Kood

Perfect blue skies. Perfect blue seas. The Thai island of Koh Kood is an affordable and accessible alternative to the Maldives, with the bonus of the world’s best cuisine. Thailand’s islands are rightly popular destinations. Koh Samui and Koh Chang are perhaps the most visited; Koh Phangan is famed for its full moon parties. ManyContinue reading “Exploring the Peerless Piers of Thailand’s Koh Kood”

Bangkok is not your futurist dystopia

I grew tired of Bangkok’s tourists, relentless consumerism and Hello Kitty, and made a Logan’s Run out along one of the city’s major waterways. I expected to find those oft-described gleaming spires of Bladerunner-like urban futurism. Instead, I wandered through a crumbling Heath Robinson environment, finding only low-fi make-do-and-mend survivalism. For some time, I’d beenContinue reading “Bangkok is not your futurist dystopia”

When Indian Food is the Mildest Option in Bangkok

If Thai food were a language, it would be Italian: stylish and loud. Negotiating the menu every time you eat is intimidating. It all looks appetising but what is it? After your fifth tom yam gung, you’ll be begging for something familiar. Three Tiers Bangkok, like any self-respecting capital city, caters for all budgets. TheContinue reading “When Indian Food is the Mildest Option in Bangkok”

On Attending a Stranger’s Funeral in Thailand

Thai monks always remind me of Discworld wizards, vaguely comical, and either morbidly obese or so body-horror sinewy you wonder whether their organs are still on the inside. “My dear, you have black dress?” My heart sank. Nina’s English can be a little cryptic at times. She couldn’t mean did I have a black dress;Continue reading “On Attending a Stranger’s Funeral in Thailand”

A Journey Through Naypyidaw

The ferry-bus was taking us across the tarmac at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. The destination was the plane into Myanmar. It appeared a relatively new jet, which was reassuring as air travel safety is always a concern – you hear stories. As the idea of living to see tomorrow settled in the mind, the bus pulledContinue reading “A Journey Through Naypyidaw”